The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-08-12

to seize the opportunity offered, and the fact that
the bridge so far consumed at the time the
train came along, and the fact that the train was
an hour and half late. are pointed out evil
dencs of q careful conspiracy. It seems
hardly possible that man could be so
lost to all the ordinary feelings which
animate even the basest of the human race;
but still pien who will rob dead men, who will
steal from the dying and will rlunder the
wounded. held down by the broken beams of a
wrecked car. wounded whose death by fire
seemed imminent, can do almost anything which
is base. and that is what these fends in human
fern did. They went into the cars when the
fire WAS burning underneath. and when the poor
wretches who were pinned there begged
them for Gods sake to help them out
stripped them OF their watches and jewslry. and
searched their pockets for money. When the
dead bodies were laid out in the corn-field, these
hyenas turned them over in their search for val
uables. aud that the plunderiug was done by
organized gang proven by the fact that this
morning, out in the corn-feld, sixteen purses
ali empty, were found in one heap. 1t was
ghastly plundering. and had the plunderers
been caught this afternoon they would surely
have been lynched.
There was one incident of the accident which
rible scenes. In the second coach was a man,
his wife and little child. His name could not be
learned, but il is said he got at Peoria.
When the accident occurred the entire family of
three was caught and held down by broken
woodwork. Finally, when relief came
the man turned to the friendly
aid and feeby said: Take out
my wife first; am afraid the child is dead" So
they carried out the mother. and broken
seat was taken off her crushed breast. the blood
which welled from her lips told how badly she
was hurt. They carried the child, fair-haired.
blue eyed girl OF three. and laid her IN the corn
field. dead, alongside her dying mother. Then
they went back for the father and brought him
out. Both his legs were broken, but he crawled
through the to the side of his wife, and feel
ing her loved features in the darkness.
pressed some brandy to her lips and asked her
how she felt A groan was the only answer. and
the next instant sho died. The man felt the
forms Of his dead wife and child, and cried out:
"My God! there is nothing more for me to live
for now" and taking pistol out of his pocket,
pulled the trigger. The bullet went surely
through his brain, and the dead bodies of that
little family are now lying side by side in Chats
WORTH waiting to be Identified.
There have been many guesses to the origin
the accident, but so far they are nothing but
guesses The most probable one is that a spark
from the furnace of the engine of train which
passed two hours before caused the blaze. The
season has been very dry herea bouts for a long
time; almost no rain has fallen, and SO the wood
work of the bridge like tinder. A live coal
dropped on it would fire it at once, and the re-
suting accident soon follow
Another startling theory is the one of train
wrecking. This is an awful one to contemplate
but it has its adherents. They point to the fact
that there were lot of thieves about; to the ad-
ditional fact that they seemed to be members of
an organization working together, and the dia-
bolical heartessness with which they went about
their work indicated devilishness which would
stop at nothing
The news OF the disaster was brought to
Chatsworth by one of the passengers about mid
night. and the inhabitants around secured bug
gies. lum Der wagons and every kind of vehicles
to reach the fatal spot. AS fast as the eorpses
were taken from the wreck they laid out
the side of the track Before
daylight the work of recovering the dead .
and moving them to Chatsworth was
begun. AS soon the corpses were recovered
they placed in a large empty building
lately occupied as store, also in the public
The residents of the town threw open their
houses for the reception of the dead and wound
ed. but the former were taken to the improvised
morgues. Friends and relatives of the dead
came to Chatsworth with the remains, and the
scenes in the different places where the bodies
lay was most heartrending and distressing AS
the day passed bodies wore being continually
brought in from the scene of the wreck. The
maj jority of them were maneled in the most
frightful manner many of them having their
faces entirely torn away, leaving their brains
exposed, while their jaws, fingers and legs had
been torn off.
Scenes Last Nj ght at Chatsworth.
CHATswoRTH, H.. Aug. 11-Charne-houses
and hospitals make up tonight what has been
the peaceful village of Chatswortb OF 800
merry excursionists jurneying by here to the
Falls OF Niagara. twenty-four hours ago,
fully half that number have since
passed through a maelstrom more fearful than
all the whirling waters they travelling SO
far to see. Eighty-four OF them. blackened,
mangled corpses, scattered in the
depots, schools and engine houses here and at
Piper City, are being carried trains in all
diraof ofsrrn %ha:r han